@jeffgoodell.bsky.social:
Carson understood very well how the Earth works. She did not live long enough, however, to see how fossil fuel lobbying and lies work.
I think she knew and saw. The lies were well established and being blitzed in massive propaganda programs already before I got to grade school. Most humans love being lied to. Lies makes it easier for them to exploit others. And that is why politicians, lawyers, judges, corporations, the rich lie so much.
@tkovach.bsky.social:
I mean she did endure a vicious, coordinated smear campaign when she releases Silent Spring
@brianpjcronin.bsky.social
Rereading Rachel Carson’s THE EDGE OF THE SEA, from 1955, where she casually mentions that species are migrating northward and that this is “of course, related to the widespread change of climate that seems to have set in about the beginning of the century and is now well recognized.”My M.Sc. research was on development of dog heart worm in mosquitoes spreading north along the eastern seaboard of the USA into Canada because of global warming. Previously, it had been too cold at night for the worm to complete its required stages of development in mosquitoes in even southern Ontario and Quebec (it would take too long, so that before the time the worm was ready to be injected into a dog to complete it’s life cycle, the mosquito died). Global warming has mosquitoes now efficiently transmitting the parasite in most areas of our country.
@theeruthie.bsky.social:
climate change adaptation is unnecessary when federal policy is intended to kill more people :(
@aekm.bsky.social:
That’s the whole game right there in the one sentence you wrote it really isn’t about “ they don’t care”( although they don’t) it’s “we republicans want you dead and we will do ANYTHING to accomplish our goal, ANYTHING!Same with many if not most of Canada’s pro polluter, pro water and energy devouring AI politicians, Harper Don Decarbonize Carney emerging to be likely the most corrupt harmful extreme right racist anti-environment PM ever. The non religious rich see the climate change devastation and toxic pollution by greedy corporate fuckers of everything in the world for what it is, they need to knock human population down a few billion, to have enough resources on earth for their unsustainable and abusive lifestyles. Religious rich are chasing the rapture, stupidly thinking it’ll get their evil corrupt raping asses into heaven.
@granitegeeknh.bsky.social:
nights over 100 will kill people very quickly
Red States, Defying Reality, Are Reclassifying Gas as a “Green” Fuel, The designation, pushed by right-wing think tank ALEC, allows fossil fuel firms to compete for clean energy funding by Sophie HurwitzBio, July 14, 2025, Mother Jones
This story was originally published by Grist and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration.
In Louisiana, natural gas—a planet-heating fossil fuel—is now, by law, considered “green energy” that can compete with solar and wind projects for clean energy funding. The law, signed by Republican Governor Jeff Landry last month, comes on the heels of similar bills passed in Ohio, Tennessee, and Indiana. What the bills have in common—besides an “updated definition” of a fossil fuel as a clean energy source—is language seemingly plucked straight from a right-wing think tank backed by oil and gas billionaire and activist Charles Koch.
Louisiana’s law was based on a template created by the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative organization that brings legislators and corporate lobbyists together to draft bills “dedicated to the principles of limited government, free markets and federalism.”
Photo of Pg 477 my copy of American Heritage Dictionary, 1967: Definition of fascism included “typically through merger state business leadership.”
“Business” was taken out in recent years, the better to Nazi us all.
The law maintains that Louisiana, in order to minimize its reliance on “foreign adversary nations” for energy, must ensure that natural gas and nuclear power are eligible for “all state programs that fund ‘green energy’ or ‘clean energy’ initiatives.”
But natural gas, also known as methane gas, is no more natural than any other fossil fuel. Its primary ingredient is methane, an intense heat-trapping gas that is far more potent than the carbon pollution produced by coal and oil, though it doesn’t stay in the atmosphere as long.
It’s often marketed as a “bridge fuel”—a less harmful fossil fuel that can be used as communities transition away from coal—but studies have found that over the long term, the planet-warming impact of the natural gas industry is worse than may be equivalent to that of coal. That’s because gas pipelines often leak; according to an Environmental Defense Fund analysis, natural gas pipelines in the US allow between 1.2 million and 2.6 million tons of methane to escape into the atmosphere each year. I think it’s much worse than that. I do not trust EDF, in the least. They are a vile synergy group
“It’s classic greenwashing, right?…The intent of these laws is to allow the build-out of fossil fuel infrastructure.”
Louisiana state Rep. Jacob Landry first introduced a near-identical bill to the model posted on ALEC’s website and to the other bills that have passed in Ohio, Tennessee, and Indiana. (The Washington Post reported in 2023 that ALEC was involved in Ohio’s bill; ALEC denies involvement.) Landry, who represents a small district in the southern part of the state, is the recipient of significant fossil fuel-industry funding—and he co-owns two oil and gas consulting firms himself. During his campaign for the state Legislature, Landry received donations from at least 15 fossil-fuel-affiliated companies and PACs, including ExxonMobil (which has also funded ALEC) and Phillips 66. Those donations alone totaled over $20,000.
Landry did not respond to multiple requests for comment. ALEC did not get back to Grist in time for publication.
While Louisiana has one of the least reliable grids in the country, that lack of reliability is in large part due to the state’s reliance on natural gas, which provides most of its electricity, according to a 2025 report from the Louisiana Legislative Auditor’s Office. “Best practices have found that gas plants are susceptible to large-scale failures during extreme weather,” the auditors wrote. “Diversifying the energy sources used for electricity generation is a priority.”
Bills that benefit both the fossil fuel industry and the individual lawmakers who introduce them aren’t exactly a new genre in Louisiana, said Laura Peterson, a senior analyst with the Union of Concerned Scientists. What’s less standard is that this one is dressed up in climate-friendly language.
“Louisiana is a classic example of a captured state,” Peterson said. “Their state economy is just so dependent on fossil fuels and petrochemicals.” (The amount of money the fossil fuel industry brings to Louisiana’s people, though, has been on the decline since the turn of the century.)
The state accounts for about 10 percent of the country’s natural gas production and holds about 6 percent of U.S. natural gas reserves. Natural gas is already used to generate about three-quarters of the state’s electricity, and building out more pipeline projects to carry liquefied natural gas, or LNG, won’t necessarily make electricity bills cheaper for residents, Peterson said.
“Building LNG infrastructure is not going to lower anyone’s energy prices in the short term,” since it takes many years to build a pipeline, Peterson said. “And there’s a lot of research that shows that overreliance on gas leaves power grids vulnerable to extreme weather, which Louisiana has a lot of.”
Jeffrey Clark, president of the Louisiana Advanced Power Alliance—an industry group representing both renewable and fossil fuel energy companies and investors—testified in opposition to the bill in early June.
“This legislation is being promoted as a solution to Louisiana’s reliability challenges. But with all due respect, it is a solution in search of a problem,” Clark said. “We support fossil fuels as a key part of the nation’s energy mix, but codifying them as the only acceptable path forward dismisses a growing body of evidence that grid reliability depends on resource diversity.”
Fossil fuel advocacy groups lauded the move. Larry Behrens of the nonprofit Power the Future wrote that the legislation turns Louisiana into an “energy sanctuary state,” taking “a direct shot at the China-backed solar and wind lobby.”
Reclassifying natural gas as “green” energy means that proposed natural gas pipelines may be able to access funding that would otherwise have gone to new solar or wind projects; it may also make natural gas companies more appealing to environmentally conscious investors.
ALEC, the right-wing think tank that provided the template language for Landry’s bill, noted in a press release that resolutions like this could pave the way for more AI data centers in the state, too. “Redefining ‘green energy’ allows utilities to continue using natural gas while fulfilling state ‘green energy’ or ‘clean energy’ initiatives,” ALEC staffer Mark Lucas wrote.
Over the years, ALEC has succeeded in getting laws that benefit fossil fuel companies passed across the country. Recently the group, which was founded in the 1970s, has helped draft legislation criminalizing grassroots protest against pipelines, gas terminals, and other fossil fuel infrastructure—versions of that bill had passed in 17 states by 2022.
Its members have also drafted bills aiming to punish economic boycotts of the oil industry.
And there are currently 114 different model policies related to energy on ALEC’s website, 23 of which specifically address “green energy.”
“It’s classic greenwashing, right?” said Peterson of the new Louisiana law—using the language of sustainability to describe an activity that’s actually not sustainable at all. “The intent of these laws is to allow the build-out of fossil fuel infrastructure, which will perpetuate the use of fossil fuels for decades to come.”
Refer also to:
2014: Texas, Louisiana oil and gas officials rehash complaints about regulation, activists, lawsuits
2013: BP, Chevron Accused Of Illegally Dumping Toxic Radioactive Drilling Waste Into Louisiana Water
2013: Dixie family finds their Louisiana tap water is flammable with methane
2012: Louisiana sinkhole, bubbles, 1000s quakes link to oil, gas ENMOD